Alarming increase in bear sighting panic residents in Kupwara villages

Kupwara, Aug 1: Villagers in Kupwara’s Sulkoot Tuesday said that there has been an alarming increase in bear sighting worrying residents.
Residents of Gulshanabad, Yateem Trust, New Colony Anwarabad, Chaan Mohalla, and Sulkoot said that over the past few days, there has been an alarming increase in bear sightings in their areas particularly during the hours between 7 pm to 6 am.
“The constant movement of bears has caused panic among the inhabitants and we fear potential encounters with these wild animals,” they said.
They said that the Wildlife department needs to take measures to curb their movement.
“Implementing measures such as the installation of bear-resistant trash containers, awareness campaigns for residents on bear safety, and proper management of wildlife corridors can go a long way in mitigating human-bear conflicts,” they said.
Residents also said that people had even sighted two leopards a few days ago.
On Friday last week, a middle aged man was injured in a bear attack at Sulkoot village after which officials swung into action leading to the rescue of two bear including a cub. Since then the entire area is again gripped by fear after bear was sighted multiple times. (KNO)